No News Isn't Good News (open)

[Silver Blackwood]

Silver hadn't seen Willow in a while, and he didn't know what to think. She'd sent him some letters, and he'd sent them back faithfully, but it just didn't feel right. Not after nearly five months.

He knew she'd gone on some trip to Egypt for an internship, but he knew she'd been back, too. It had been last month sometime, and he'd been indisposed, but there had really been nothing he could do to change that. He hadn't been able to see her, and it was growing more and more difficult to believe he had a girlfriend at all.

They'd met, they'd talked, they'd laughed, they'd kissed, and the last time he'd physically seen her, he'd felt like crap. Nothing had really happened, and he knew it wasn't anything she'd done. It was all on him. He'd just wanted to be alone that day.

He couldn't help thinking that he hadn't seen her because of that. Maybe she thought he'd been messing around with her the way Celyn had thought he was messing around with her. He didn't even know how to mess around with a girl! God, they were so confusing!

So he'd sought solace here, deep in the Forbidden Forest in a clearing he'd long ago claimed as his own. It was a small clearing, just wide enough to let light in, and off to the side was a massive tree, its gnarled roots twisting from the soil, making a perfect seat. A throne, he often thought.

It was his, this seat, the tree, the clearing, and it was his place of solace. His book bag was discarded somewhere off to the side and he sat cross-legged in his nest of roots. His newest journal was open in front of him, and he scribbled away, nothing about himself, nothing about his worries and little dramas, his triumphs or hopes, but yet another lengthy poem. Part of him was still aware of his surroundings, of how close the animals were, of the scents in the breeze, but his mind was lost to the words spreading across the page as the quill shivered in his hand.

[Savannah Brooks]

When Vannah woke up that morning, she had made the effort to get her butt down to the Great Hall before the crowd was gone. She was trying her damnedest to get back into her old habits. Habits that included her sitting around at the Slytherin Table in the morning, surrounded by a large entourage of fellow Slytherins, and usually making people feel bad about themselves. Vannah came back to Hogwarts a changed person, but she was still a true Slytherin at heart.

After a morning of socializing, slapping on that fake smile for all to see, and pretending like things were right and dandy, Vannah had had enough. Things weren’t all sunshine and roses. She still felt hollow, betrayed, bitter, and lonely. Although many might protest the loneliness part was all her fault. There had been plenty of people who had offered her help and she had turned them all down, too stubborn to accept their help and advice. She thought she was strong enough to get through it on her own and she thought that she was the only person who could help her. No one else could understand what she had been through, what had happened, except for her. She was the one who was there, the one who had to live through the painful memories.

Vannah was slowly slipping into one of her funks. She probably needed something more, but she wanted to be alone, so she headed to the only place that provided her with the solitude she was searching for: the Forbidden Forest. As she slipped through the trees on her usual route that led her deep into the forest and away from first-years who barely entered the edge to fulfill a dare, she grasped her wand at her side. She knew how to take care of herself in the unlikely event some ghastly creature would pop up and try to arm her, but she didn’t really think it would happen. Still, she liked to be prepared.

Vannah wasn’t really focusing on where she was going as her feet carried her through the maze of trees. Her mind wasn’t focused on any particular topic, much to her liking, but it was still blank. She felt like a zombie, going through the motions of everyday life without really being a part of it. When she nearly tripped over something, her eyes flew open and she was suddenly aware of where she was, without really realizing how she got there. She stumbled forward a step or two and blinked. That’s when she noticed something was missing that had been there a moment ago: the sound of a quill against parchment. Vannah turned around, shocked to see someone else out so deep in the Forest. “Oh.” She said, her eyes flickering over the boy. “I didn’t see you there.” She said. It wasn’t really an apology, but it was the closest thing to an apology she would give. Her eyes paused on the pad of paper in his hand. “Who are you?” She asked. She had begun to think of the Forest as hers, and was slightly miffed that someone else would venture into her Forest.

[Silver Blackwood]

Silver's brows drew together, not so much at the question as at the way it had been asked. Or maybe it was more of a demand. Who are you? he wanted to demand. She hadn't been rude, per se, but his hackles were raised all the same. He told himself to chill out.

"Silver," he said after a moment's evaluation. He'd dropped his last name from introductions quite a while ago, tired of people connecting it to his brother, then trying to pump him for gossip as though he really cared what they did behind closed doors.

"Who are you?" He could have been more polite himself, but somehow he didn't think it would matter.

[Savannah Brooks]

Vannah ignored his tone and the way he asked the question, mostly because she couldn't find anything different about the way he asked it versus the way she asked it. It was a fair trade. She was also too overjoyed that he even asked that rather then squinting and matching her face to a load of rumors before she had a chance to speak up for herself. "Savannah." She answered simply. There had to be more than one Savannah in all of Hogwarts so even if he recognized her name from the Prophet or rumors or anything else, maybe he wouldn't be able to tell whether or not it was her.

Vannah had come out to the Forest for the only reason she ever came out to the Forest these days: to be alone. So what was she doing still standing there? Well, because a curious thing happened. Vannah was struck by a sudden curiosity. There was something intriguing about this guy, something she couldn't quite put her finger on. There was also something familiar. Vannah had a feeling she had met this guy somewhere, but she had no specific memory of doing so, so she let it go. "What are you doing all the way out here?" She asked, her tone a little lighter as the curiosity within continued to grow. She was especially interested in the simple fact that she wasn't the only person who ventured out as far as she did.

[Silver Blackwood]

There had been a flash of recognition when the girl had introduced her name. Savannah. Yes, he read the Daily Prophet, and no, he hadn't heard of any other girls at Hogwarts with that name. It was like a single domino knocking over the next and the next and the next in Silver's mind. She'd been interviewed by Dahlia. Raped by Emilian. A mother.

And he'd met her before.

He was terrible with pairing names to faces, and he'd only met her once, only for the briefest time in a corridor somewhere, or maybe the entrance hall. She'd been rude, as short-tempered as the Prophet wrote her to be. Why wouldn't it be her?

He quickly shielded his eyes, the curtain of his hair providing some cover as he dipped his head in gesture toward his journal. "Writing," he explained. How long before he pissed her off? And would he be forced to leave for his sanity the way he had when Quinn had found this spot?

[Savannah Brooks]

Vannah pressed her lips together and nodded. She did have some common sense and she could make out that he was writing. She wasn't a complete idiot. The question was directed more towards his reason for being out in the Forest so far rather than what he was specifically doing. She bit back a smarta~ comment, deciding she should really try to be a better person. She was turning over a clean slate, in a way. Her eyes lingered on him for a moment. She expected him to maybe elaborate more than writing, but when it didn't come she just spoke again. "I gathered as much," Vannah said with a smile. Her voice, surprisingly enough, was not sarcastic nor did it hold any note of resentment in it. "But why all the way out here?" In my Forest? she wanted to add. The place had been a place of comfort and security for so many years, she wasn't quite ready to accept the fact that she was seeing more and more students in there.

[Silver Blackwood]

Silver blinked and looked up from his book. "It's quiet out here," he answered. He gave a light shrug of the shoulders. "It's why everyone else comes out." To be alone, to get some peace and quiet, some privacy away from the prying eyes of the student population. To keep out of view of the Daily Prophet, as ironic as that might be. He didn't return the question. He assumed she was probably after the same thing, and it gave him pause. His fingers itched with the desire to turn the page and write something new, something about the depth of the human soul and all its many facets.

"It's a nice place, isn't it?" Silver asked, looking up. Was the tension in the air his imagination? Was it because he knew who she was and refused to say as much? And why did he feel less invaded than discovered?

[Savannah Brooks]

Vannah lifted her eyes and scanned the Forest around them. “I suppose.” She said half-heartedly. The way the trees blocked out a good portion of the sunlight and the way they seemed to tauntingly loom over you as you walked by were a bit creepy at times. There were unusual sounds always in the distance of animals and creatures unknown. But there was solitude and peace and everything she wanted. “Yeah, it really is.” She amended, with a small smile. “Mind if I have a seat?” Vannah paused, her own question startled her. It just kind of jumped out of there without her permission. She blinked, unsure of what to do, and just waited.

[Silver Blackwood]

Silver blinked again, surprised by the question, but nodded all the same. He didn't have any real objection to her company, at least, not any that had any real basis. People's reputations meant precisely nothing when faced with a person who didn't fit. Who was to say she was as bad as they said, assuming he was right in the first place and that she was Savannah Brooks. Who was to say she really was the girl he'd met in the entrance hall, and that he hadn't mixed her up in his mind? Who was to say that if she was, she was always the face she presented to the world?

He refused to let himself think that he might push any warning signs aside because of how pretty she was. She looked like a viper as much as an angel. the night is too kind now/I've dreamed of my heaven!/a witty angel He seriously needed to get in touch with Willow.

"Do you come out here a lot?" Silver asked. He tried not to catch her eye, afraid he might end in staring and making a complete tool of himself.

[Savannah Brooks]

Vannah sat down with her feet criss-crossed Indian style. She nodded, but noticed he wasn't really looking at her so he probably wouldn't have seen it anyways. "Erm...yeah. It's nice, quiet, peaceful." She said slowly. She was suddenly self-conscious. Why wouldn't he look at her? Did she have something on her face? Was there something in her teeth? She ran her tongue over her smooth teeth discreetly, just in case. She used to come into the Forest a lot.She would sneak in there with whoever was around, whether it was with some guy or whether it was with Pandora and Storm just to hang out or talk. Now she slipped into the Forest for solitude and comfort. "How about you?"

[Silver Blackwood]

Silver looked up now, somehow surprised at the question, even if it followed the logical next step of conversation. He simply didn't think himself interesting enough for anyone to wonder about. His green eyes stuck on her blue, just as he'd been afraid of, and for a moment he couldn't speak. Making direct eye contact was a rarity for him. It had always felt confrontational.

He dragged his gaze away, out into the trees, and forced his mind to work again. "Every day," he answered. Most of his free time was spent here, though he wouldn't admit it. He didn't need to sound pathetic, no matter who he was talking to. He glanced back at her. "Same reasons as you."

[Savannah Brooks]

Vannah was surprised by that last bit of what he said. Well, she was surprised by all, it was just that the last bit stuck out more in her mind. She had never once met anyone who had managed to sneak into the Forest every single day without being noticed or caught by a Professor or that wretched Filch. The last part caught her off guard, though. The reason she needed that peace and quiet was one all her own, or so she thought. It wasn't possible that this guy, Silver, searched out that tranquility in the Forest for the same reasons she did. She knew she was over analyzing what he was saying, something she did when she found herself nervous. But how could she be nervous? She has nothing to be nervous about. She was just sitting and enjoying pleasant conversation with someone who she happened to stumble upon. It was a bit unusual, considering her normal demeanor, but it certainly wasn't nerve-racking. "What are you escaping from?" Vannah asked, tilting her head to the side questioningly. She wasn't entirely sure what made her blurt out such a question, as it was none of her business and had the roles been reversed it probably would not have been a question she would have answered.

[Silver Blackwood]

Silver blinked, and for a moment he stared down at the pages of his book. Then he looked aside at Savannah, his brows drawing slightly together as he gave the matter true thought. To say he wasn't escaping anything would be a lie. The forest—this spot in particular—was solace. It was peace and safety. But from what?

"Everything, in a way," he replied. He thought a moment more before going on. "Humanity. Is that too much?" It probably was, and he looked away again. He didn't talk to people often enough, and here he was with someone he'd just met, nearly baring his soul. It was true, though. He didn't have to be human out here. He could be himself. He could be nothing at all but thought, or nothing but a receptor for sensation and sound. It sounded incredibly spiritual when put like that. His quill hand twitched slightly with the desire to write it down before he forgot.

[Savannah Brooks]

"Humanity." Vannah repeated, crinkling her nose in disgust. She let it hang in the air for a moment before tilting her head back and opening her big mouth, "Screw humanity!" She yelled. When she tilted her head back to its normal position, an excited grin spread across her lips. As child-like as it was, it was incredibly liberating to scream at the top of her lungs. Like by screaming those two words she had stomped on everyone who had made her life complicated and miserable. It was as if those two words had traveled all the way to Hogsmeade and kicked Emilian where the sun don't shine, for example.

Something strange was coming from Savannah. It sounded a little bit like...laughter. It wasn't a loud obnoxious kind of laugh, but more of a giggle. "Oh." She said, surprised to hear herself laughing or giggling or whatever it was.

[Silver Blackwood]

Silver had looked at Savannah in surprise, and for a moment, only her laughter had sounded in the clearing. Then his lips curved, and despite his better intentions, he chuckled. Then he laughed, low and just audible enough to count, before shaking his head at himself. He smiled as he looked out over the grass now. "Yeah, screw humanity," he echoed.

It was something his brother would have said, and Silver would have shaken his head and kept quiet. But here, in his little spot in the forest, he felt it, too. It was what he came out here to get away from.

He looked aside at Savannah, an unwise move as he was struck with how pretty she was. He tried to think of Willow, but it had been so long now that the memory of her face was fuzzy at the edges. He looked away again, his smile fading. How horrible was he that he couldn't draw up a solid image of her? "Humanity sucks," he muttered.